Second Death
by King in Yellow
Summary: The spirit of Toshimiru has remained in Hana Stoppable too long and must return to its rest. The human vessels who housed the ancient warrior's spirit in the past never survived the experience. Individuals handle grief in different ways. BEST ENEMIES Univ
1. Fixing to Die

Boilerplate Disclaimer: The various characters from the Kim Possible series are all owned by Disney. Any and all registered trade names property of their respective owners. Cheap shots at celebrities constitute fair usage.

NoDrogs created the twins, whose origin I modified.

This story presumes a knowledge of The Quick and the Dead, where Hana discovered her origin. And you might want to check out Ninjas in the House as well if you've not read it. Ninjas, set about nineteen years earlier than this story, was the last time Ron spoke with Yori - when she turned down his proposal of marriage because her family wanted her to marry someone else.

**Fixing to Die**

The symptoms began soon after Hana Stoppable's twentieth birthday. Given the wonderful health she usually enjoyed her parents were concerned. As the weakness and dizzy spells grew stronger her parents urged her to move home, but she insisted on finishing the semester. Her parents would always feel guilty for granting her wish.

Anne Possible ordered every test available for Hana at the Middleton Hospital. Twice. While the diagnostic equipment could monitor the symptoms, it failed utterly at identifying any origin of the problems.

"I need to go to Yamanouchi," she told her parents.

"Stay here. The Middleton hospital is world class, they can find whatever is wrong with you."

"They have examined me, and can not find what is hurting me. I fear that whatever is wrong is beyond the ability of Middleton science."

"You really think that boy can help you?"

"Ronin? I do not know if anyone can help me," Hana answered. "I don't understand what is happening to me. But he understands things which others can't. If my problems are related to the magic which gave me life he has a better chance of figuring it out."

"Will you take Sheki with you?"

Hana hesitated. As weak as she was she probably needed help. "No. She has enjoyed the last three summers at Yamanouchi, but I fear I will be poor company this time. And Ronin will be too focused on me to spend time with her."

Those in Middleton heard nothing for the week after Hana left for Japan. The silence was normal, but the circumstances made it difficult to bear.

An email to Rachel Stoppable gave information in regard to Hana's return flight, and requested that Ron be in Middleton. There was not a word in regard to Hana's health. Rachel wanted to believe that whoever had sent the information had simply not thought to include the report. Her husband held the opinion that nothing had been said because there had been nothing good to say.

Sheki waited with the Stoppables as the arrivals from Japan deplaned.

Hana came off last. Her condition had worsened even in the time she was gone and a young man pushed her to them in a wheelchair. The young man bowed to the Stoppables, who immediately asked Hana how she felt. When they looked up the young man was gone.

"Was that Ronin?" her mother asked.

"It was not little brother," Hana told her.

"You know, he's starting to resent that name," Sheki reminded her.

"He will always be little brother to me."

"They couldn't figure out what was wrong?" Ron asked impatiently.

"He discovered what is wrong," Hana answered.

"Well, can they fix you up?" her father demanded.

"No. There is no cure. I came home only to die." There was a moment of silence at Hana's words. "I could have died in Japan. I considered if it might have been easier on you than watching me die here. But I feared you might not believe the news of my passing, so I returned to Middleton."

"Please stop talking about dying. You're not going to die. We're taking you to the hospital right now. They'll find a way to cure you. Ron, find her bag."

"I did not bring my bag," Hana told her. "I will soon have no need for anything."

"I said, stop talking like that."

Hana rode in the back seat between Sheki and Ron on the way to the hospital.

"So, uh, how were things at Yamanouchi?" Sheki whispered.

"Do you mean how are things at Yamanouchi, or how are things with Ronin?"

"Both, I guess… Hey, what did you mean by that?"

"You write him all the time. That is very unusual in this-"

"And if Yamanouchi put in email and joined the rest of the world I could stay in touch like I do with any normal person."

"He has the hugest crush on you, you know."

"I don't try to lead him on. He's a nice kid, but-"

"You reminded me that he does not like the title 'little brother'. I do not believe he cares for the term 'kid' either."

"I just asked how things were at Yamanouchi. I didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition."

Hana sighed, "So much has happened since last year. I fear I was too weak to see everyone and hear all the stories. Perhaps he will tell you. He and Sensei are both coming here, for the ceremony when I die."

"What?" Ron interrupted. "Hiro is coming here?"

"Yes, Brother."

Ron fell silent. He wondered what it would be like to see Hiro after so many years. Would it be as difficult for Yamanouchi's new Sensei as it was for him? He was happily married to Bonnie. He loved his two children. Weeks passed without the memory of Yori even coming to mind. But every few months she would appear in a dream, and in the morning he would wonder what might have been. It would probably be even more difficult for Hirotaka.

As Ron helped Hana from the car she leaned over and whispered, "Please, I need to speak with you alone for a minute before you leave."

Anne Possible met them at the Admissions desk. She'd already filled out most of the necessary forms for them from the information on file.

Kim arrived as Hana settled into the hospital bed.

"Now, what is this about them discovering why you're ill, but there's nothing that can be done about it?" Dr. Possible asked.

"It is the nature of the malady. Toshimiru cast a spell centuries ago, which enables his spirit to enter someone and serve as a weapon to defend Yamanouchi-"

"The spell which gave you life," Sheki interrupted.

"Yes, the spell which gave me life. It was never intended that Toshimiru's spirit continue on earth. He has been in me too long. His spirit must return to his place of rest in the Lotus Blade."

"But, how does that affect you? Can't his spirit just go back wherever it came from and leave you alone," her father objected.

"Doesn't work that way," Sheki explained. "When Toshi's spirit pulls out all of Hana's life force goes with it."

"I don't believe in magic," Anne told Hana firmly. "We will find a way to save you."

Hana gave a wan smile, "I do not believe that my fate depends upon your beliefs of what is, or is not acceptable. Sensei will be coming from Japan with the Lotus Blade." She turned to her parents, "It is necessary to plan my funeral."

Rachel Stoppable began to cry, and her husband escorted her from the hospital room. Anne Possible gently squeezed Hana's hand. "We will find a way to help you," she promised and left to look at the records in her office and try and find some new test that might save Hana.

"Anything I can do for you?" Sheki asked.

"I fear not. Go home with your mother. I will not die until the Lotus Blade is here."

Kim put her arm around her daughter's shoulder, "Come home, Kid. Grandma will do everything humanly possible."

"Not going to be enough," Sheki muttered.

Kim looked at Ron, "You staying with us or your folks?"

Normally Ron stayed at the big house, but his mother seemed understandably distraught, "Think I'll stay with mom and dad. I'll be over tomorrow if I need anything."

After Kim and Sheki left Ron waited. After a couple minutes of silence he asked, "Hana?"

"Yes?"

"You said you wanted to talk with me."

"I am not certain that is true… That is, I am not certain I should talk to you, I know that in a moment of weakness I asked to talk with you."

"I don't understand."

"There is a very small chance, so small that I would not say it in front of mother and father to raise false hopes-"

"A chance you could live?" he asked excitedly.

"And the way you respond is the reason I did not wish to say anything in front of them. And I fear that if I… that if it does not work you might in some way blame yourself for my death."

"You're really confusing me."

"No one has ever survived the spirit of Toshimiru returning to the Lotus Blade after he visits this plane. Ronin, the one I call little brother, has great knowledge. He thinks he might have found a means to keep me alive."

"That's great!"

"No, it is not great. First, he does not know that it will work. It has never been done before. Second, it will require your Monkey Power if it could work."

Fear replaced the ray of hope Ron had felt. "But I haven't… I'm… It's been years since I worked with the power."

"I know. And that is why I hesitated to tell you anything, Brother. I don't know if you can call on the power. Even if you can call on the power it is not certain it could save me. I want you to know that, even if you are not able to call on the power, there is never any guarantee it would save. I worry that you might blame yourself in some way. I would rather you returned to California than to have you think that not having control of the Monkey Power had anything to do with my death."

He took her hand. "I can do it, Kid. I will do it. What kind of window do I have to get back in monkey shape?"

"The next new moon. Less than two weeks. Sensei and Ronin will bring the Lotus Blade. They must be here… Ron?"

"Yes."

"Promise me, whatever happens, you will not blame yourself if I die."


	2. The Dead Past Is Not Always Dead

Boilerplate Disclaimer: The various characters from the Kim Possible series are all owned by Disney. All registered trade names property of their respective owners. Cheap shots at celebrities constitute fair usage.

**The Dead Past Is Not Always Dead, and Sometimes It Isn't Even Past**

Ron called Bonnie to say he would remain in Middleton for a couple weeks. He called the test kitchen and told Jesus he would be in charge until Ron's return.

"No problem," his number two man told him. "When I finish that new salsa recipe you won't have a job to come back to, I'll be running the place. Maybe I can put you in to corn dogs."

Ron didn't laugh.

"What's wrong?"

"It's my sister. She's really sick. Don't know if she's going to make it."

"Oh… Sorry, man. Don't know what to say. I'll say a prayer to the Virgin… Uh, forgot you're Jewish."

"It's okay. I'll take all the help I can get. Hey, her family was Jewish too."

"Seriously, anything we can do for you?"

"No. I'll give you a call if anything comes up. Just try not to look like you can get along fine without me."

"No way, man. I hope things go okay for your sister."

Ron left his parents to stay at Possible Manor. He needed quiet and he would not have that with his mom and dad. Rather than staying in his and Bonnie's room at Kim's, however, he found an old futon and moved into his old back bedroom.

_"Brown rice, green tea, raw veggies, can you even get fresh fish in Middleton?" _Ron asked himself as he ran his diet for the next couple weeks through his mind.

He told the women he needed time for quiet and meditation to prepare for Hana's death, honoring her request that he not say more. Sheki volunteered to cook the brown rice, and Shego told him of a new seafood place in town and offered to stop there for him. Jane wanted to ask a hundred questions, but Kim cut her off quickly, "Uncle Ron needs some quiet time. You can't bother him until… While Hana is in the hospital."

"Can I ask if Aaron will be here?"

Ron fielded the question. "He and Becky are coming out with Bonnie and the people from Japan."

"When will that-" Jane began.

Kim gave her a shush, "Ron needs some time alone. You can ask questions later."

"How much later?"

"Your Mom will let you know," Shego told the youngest redhead.

Twenty years ago, on his last trip to Yamanouchi, Ron had begun to master calling on the Mystical Monkey Power. But that was twenty years earlier. He had not used the power since the night Fukushima had broken in to kidnap Yori. Or had he? Hana had been able to contact him from Japan several times, but he wasn't certain if that was connected to the Monkey Power or Hana's own power. Sensei had been able to contact Ron when he had no ability to call on…

Ron shook his head. This was not the time to speculate about astral communication. He needed to focus on regaining the ability to call forth the power. He felt guilt for leaving his parents. His mother needed him. Maybe he should have told her what Hana… No, Hana had said not to tell others. Ron had no idea how the Monkey Power could save Hana. Did he need to fight Toshimiru in some way? Was there some ability associated with the Monkey Power that he had never heard of? He certainly had never mastered it deeply enough to know what he might be capable of accomplishing.

This wasn't helping him focus on regaining control of the Monkey Power. He tried to clear his mind and concentrate. What if he wasn't able to call on the power? What if Hana died because he failed. He tried to move past the feeling of guilt. Hana had told him there was no guarantee she could be saved even with the power. This was the idea of some kid Hana and Sheki talked about. He was a kid, what did he know?

Ron decided to give up on calling the Monkey Power that day. He tried to focus on beginning meditation techniques, remembering how to focus his attention. In the back of his head one voice continued to nag him, it was not enough to focus - he had to learn how to call forth the Mystical Monkey Power. And a second voice told him it would be his fault if Hana died.

Hana remained in the hospital. The tests Anne Possible continued to order for her were a greater burden than the prospect of dying. Hana had talked with everyone on the staff of the Middleton hospital, and her mother and father would have gladly brought in specialists from elsewhere - if anyone had a clue about what sort of specialist might help.

"Is Aunt Hana really gonna die?" a frightened Becky asked her mother as Bonnie checked her daughter's bag for the trip to Middleton.

"I don't know," Bonnie answered. "She is very sick. She told Daddy she was going to die. We hope that she's wrong." There was a thud from the hallway. "Aaron, what do you have in that bag? You have stuff at the house in Middleton. I'm going through your suitcase too, young man to see what you have in there."

The two children were unusually quiet on the shuttle ride to the airport and snuggled close to their mother. She put an arm around each of them and held them tight.

"What kind of plane are we taking to Middleton?" Rebecca asked.

"I don't know."

"You said it was something special."

"It's a charter flight rather than a commercial flight. It's still a normal plane, but it's probably much smaller. There are two men coming from Japan, and they asked us to travel to Middleton with them."

"Why are they coming?"

"They're friends of Aunt Hana. They want to see her when… while she's sick."

"Just us and two other people on a whole plane?" Aaron asked, excited.

"There'll be a pilot and probably a co-pilot too. And I told you, it'll be a small plane."

Most airlines would not allow weapons on a plane. As a cultural treasure, however, the Lotus Blade received a first class seat from the Japanese airline. Placing it in the baggage compartment would have been an insult to the Yamanouchi school. Actually, the sword received two seats in first class, the two men who accompanied the sword taking the seats behind it.

The flight attendant didn't know who the two men were accompanying the blade, but given the deference everyone showed the older man she played it safe and awarded him the same elaborate courtesy.

The younger man's excitement increased as they neared California. "+And we'll fly to Middleton with his wife and the children?+"

"+Yes, but you said you didn't want anything to interfere with your attempt to save Hana, so there is some American expression about curbing your enthusiasm.+"

"+You're right. Sorry. I'm just so excited.+"

Hirotaka smiled, "+That much is obvious. And you might try shifting over to English.+"

"Ah, right… And at some point I actually start thinking in English?"

"So they say. I was never there long enough to think in English… And you are resolved to stay?"

"Yes. Whatever happens, I plan to remain here, at least for a time."

"Whatever happens?"

The young man hesitated, "I don't know the future. But I will not return to Japan with you."

"Your mother will be very disappointed."

"I know. But it is time. I need to stay here, I told her so."

"Your family in Japan needs you also. There is much you could teach your little brother." It was Hirotaka's turn to hesitate for a moment. "We are trying for another child."

"I suspected that."

"I will miss you also."

Ronin had no idea how to respond, and his face showed his surprise.

"You have taught me a great deal. I had always seen the life of the warrior as the highest calling for a man. You have taught me that courage and honor can be found in any calling."

The younger man blushed, and stammered thanks.

"If your mother and I are able to have another child… Will everything be safe?"

"Everything should be fine."

Hirotaka smiled, "When you saved your mother's life, and that of our son, I was never as proud as anyone in my life as I was of you at that moment. Given our history I know you will never love me. But I would be deeply honored if someday you were able to call me father."

The young man was spared needing to reply by the voice of the flight attendants announcing that the captain had turned on the fasten seatbelt lights and seats needed to be upright with the trays locked as they made their descent into Los Angeles.

Before any passengers disembarked from the plane four heavily armed security guards went on. They came out minutes later, one carefully holding an elaborate, lacquered sword case. The other three kept their weapons drawn as they approached a waiting armored truck. One of the two guards at the truck accepted the sword case, and locked it into the back, then joined the driver in the truck compartment. The two men waved at the four guards who had delivered their cargo to them and then the truck left the tarmac and headed west.

The air marshal had requested that the passenger with the sword leave the plane last, a condition he accepted without complaint.

"How long do you think until Monkey Fist tries to steal the sword?" the younger man asked.

Hirotaka smiled, "I would guess within fifteen miles of the airport. Patience is not one of Lord Fisk's virtues."

The cultural attaché from the Japanese embassy met them and provided an escort through the diplomatic customs line. As the customs agents filled out the minimal paperwork for diplomatic personnel Hirotaka's phone rang.

"Yes?"

"+Sensei? Lord Fisk has stolen the armored truck.+"

"+Was anyone hurt?+"

"+No, Sensei.+"

"+Follow them. The knockout gas in the sword case will give us peace. Tell everyone they have acted their roles perfectly.+"

"+Thank you, Sensei.+"

Hirotaka closed the cell phone and put it away, then smiled at Ronin. "Monkey Fist will not disrupt the ceremony when Toshimiru returns to the blade."

The diplomat stayed with them as they moved through the terminal to the gate for their charter flight. A TAS guard also insisted on accompanying the man wearing the sword.

Bonnie and Aaron were reading while Becky worked on a collection of simple word searches when the door to the charter waiting area opened. The cultural attaché, having met Bonnie before going to meet the plane from Japan, prepared to make introductions. Bonnie closed her book and stood as the men entered the room. When she looked at Hirotaku, she promptly fainted.

Bonnie awoke with a paroxysm of coughing from the smelling salts waved under her nose. "My kids! Where are my kids?"

"The young man who was with me, Ronin, is watching them," Hirotaka told Bonnie and the nurse sitting beside the cot where Bonnie lay.

Bonnie looked around. She didn't know where she was, apparently some sort of sick room at the airport. "Leave," she ordered the nurse.

"I need to make sure you aren't sick."

"I'm not sick. I had a shock, that's all. Now leave! I need to talk to this man."

"I won't leave. Not until I know what happened to you."

"I fainted. And if you won't leave, I will," Bonnie announced and sat up and swung her legs over the side of the cot.

"You can't leave!"

"You can't stop me. Either get out and let me talk with him, or I'm walking out."

The nurse sighed, why weren't normal people ever sick? "I'll step into the hall for a minute. You stay there."

Bonnie remained seated on the cot, "Fine."

Hirotaka wondered what was going on as the nurse left. The woman on the bed stared at him for a moment, "Hiro?"

"Yes?"

"Don't tell Ron. Please, don't tell Ron."

"Don't tell Ron… Ron Stoppable? Don't tell Ron what?"

"That we had sex."

He looked at her, clearly puzzled.

She stared at him in amazement for a minute. "You don't even remember me."

"I'm sorry, do I know you?"

"Middleton, twenty years ago?"

"Middleton… Bonnie? You're that Bonnie?"

She smiled ruefully, "I usually leave a bigger impression on guys I go to bed with."

"You married Ron Stoppable?"

"Yes, I… Look, that was a long time ago. I was young and stupid. Kim Possible really had the hots for you and I… And I wanted to hurt her, and that was why I went to bed with you."

He snorted softly, "And I thought it was because I was handsome and charming… I will admit to being young and foolish also. American girls seemed so exciting to me, so free and independent."

"Please, don't tell Ron."

"That was many years ago. Surely Ron knows you had others before him."

"He does. But he never asked for names… I mean, he knows a couple guys but I never really wrote up a list. I just feel like, to have it come out now - after we're married - it might feel like cheating on him. Please don't tell him."

Hiro sighed. Once he would have relished imparting the news to Ron, perhaps embellished with any number of lies about Bonnie's passion. He needed to put that behind him. It could serve no good purpose. "I believe you are overly concerned, but if that is the way you feel, I-"

"It is the way I feel! It might be irrational, but please don't tell him. Please."

"Then I shall not tell him."

A light bulb suddenly went off for Bonnie, "Wait, you're the Hirotaka who married Yori?"

"Yes."

Bonnie sat still for a moment, "I think I'm going to go crawl under a rock somewhere until I can think of something to- My kids! I have to get back to them."

Bonnie stood up, "I think the nurse should look at you," Hirotaka warned and opened the door. "I believe she is fine," he told the nurse. "She fainted from surprise and wishes to return to her children."

Bonnie fretted as the nurse checked vital signs. She would have run through to terminal to return to the charter departure lounge, but she wasn't sure where she had been taken and Hiro insisted on a less frantic pace as he guided her back.

When she pushed open the door to the lounge she saw the young man, Hirotaka had called him Ronin, seated on the floor. Becky was on his lap and he was coaching her in a game of rocks-paper-scissors with Aaron.

Becky saw her mother and jumped to her feet, "Mommy!" and ran to give her a hug. "Ronin is really nice. We were beating Aaron."

Bonnie's eyes narrowed with suspicion as she watched the young man stand up, he appeared far too interested in her children. The young man was probably a pervert of some sort and she would try and keep the children away from him.


	3. One Memory Can Beat a Lifetime of Regret

Boilerplate Disclaimer: The various characters from the Kim Possible series are all owned by Disney. All registered trade names property of their respective owners. Cheap shots at celebrities constitute fair usage.

**One Memory Can Beat a Lifetime of Regret**

The charter flight brought the two men from Japan and Bonnie and her children to Middleton the day before the new moon. Kim met them at the airport, and drove them to her home. Sheki made formal introductions, although Kim remembered Sensei from years earlier and had been briefly introduced to Ronin at the airport.

Bonnie looked for Ron, and eventually located him in the back bedroom. "What're you doing here?"

"Got sort of a part in the ritual tomorrow."

"That doesn't explain why you're here."

"I need to… spend some time in meditation. This is hard on me. Please - stay with my folks, Mom really needs someone to lean on."

"That should be you."

"I know, but I just can't. This is important."

"And does that mean I'm not getting any?"

"Bonnie, I love you. You know that. I need to spend tonight in meditation, tomorrow too - right up until it's time for the ritual."

Bonnie wondered if Hiro being there reminded Ron of Yori. This was the room where he had slept with the Japanese woman when she… Bonnie shook it off. "I love you. I don't understand why you need to stay here and not with me, but I trust you. You know I'd do anything for you."

Ron gave her a kiss. "I know. Sorry I can't-"

She put a finger to his lips to quiet him, "I made the offer for you too, hoped it might relieve some stress… Do you think she'll really…"

"I don't know. I don't understand any of this, and I'm scared for Hana."

"I'll take the kids and stay with your folks. Do you know anything about this Ronin? He seems way too friendly to the kids."

"Don't know a thing. It was a long time before Hana even mentioned his name… Want me to threaten him?"

She hesitated, "No, he may just be friendly, but there's something odd about him. Do you want to talk with him or Hirotaka?"

"Not now. I just want time alone for meditation."

Bonnie gave Ron a fast kiss, "I'd better take the kids over for your parents to spoil. If Aaron or Becky find you they won't want to leave or give you time for meditation."

"Thanks."

To further Bonnie's discomfort Ronin asked to meet Ron's parents.

"You don't even know them," she reminded him.

"Hana has told me so much about them. I would like to be introduced."

Bonnie hesitated. "I'll come over in forty-five minutes or so and pick him up," Sheki offered. She softly punched Ronin in the arm. "Then I'll show you around town."

"Fine," Bonnie muttered, and picked up a set of keys for one of the cars.

Ron's dad dealt with stress by working in the office to take his mind off Hana as much as possible. Ron's mother couldn't focus enough to work. She was too distracted to pay attention to the young man Bonnie introduced her to. Against her own better judgment Bonnie left her children with the stranger and escorted Rachel Stoppable to the kitchen for private conversation. While the women talked Bonnie put a kettle on the stove. The younger woman poured a couple glasses of milk and put a plate of cookies on a tray to take into the living room. When the kettle began to boil Bonnie made a pot of tea and placed it on the tray with the milk and cookies.

When the women entered the living room the children were laughing and playing with Ronin. Now, slightly calmer from her conversation with Bonnie, Mrs. Stoppable had her first clear look at the young man. The shock startled her, and she dropped into a chair, still staring. _"Dear God, he looks like…"_ "How old are you," she asked in a shaky voice.

"I turned eighteen about two months ago. Why?"

"Just curious," she lied. It had been about nineteen years since Ron had told them he asked Yori to marry him. About nineteen years since she had come to the US and stayed with him for several days. Why had Ron never said a word? Did Ron even know? Why had Hana never said a word? Hana had to know… Rachel wanted to ask him a thousand questions. Was it possible he didn't even realize who… Hana. This was the young man Hana said was a great healer. She had to ask about Hana, ask if there was any hope.

Bonnie took over the care of the younger children while the other adults talked. It was clear the young man was suffering at the thought of Hana's death. He tried to explain what was happening with Hana, but her mother couldn't understand what he told her, and refused to accept the possibility her daughter might die.

About forty minutes after Bonnie arrived the doorbell rang and Sheki opened the door and came into the house. "Hey, I'm supposed to get someone out of your hair," she called.

Ronin rose to his feet.

"No," Aaron protested. "He's nice."

"I promise to see you again," the young man told the boy.

"Yes, you must come back," Rachel said. She stood and fiercely hugged the young man.

He returned the hug, patting her softly on the back and repeating, "I'm so sorry."

Bonnie knew that her mother-in-law needed comforting, but found such a hug to a total stranger creepy.

As they left the house Sheki whispered, "She knows."

"She suspects," Ronin corrected her. "She can not know."

"She knows. It was like after I'd been to Japan the first time. A couple weeks after we got back, around one in the morning I suddenly sat up in bed - and I knew."

"What are you going to show me?"

Sheki listed a number of locations around town that had been important to Ron. Ronin had his own request, "Hospital first, I want to see Hana."

Sheki felt a pang of guilt. She had enjoyed the thought of showing him Middleton so much she had managed to forget for a minute why he was there.

Hana's eyes brightened and she smiled as they entered the room. "It is good to see you."

He pulled a chair over beside the hospital bed and took her hand, "And wonderful to see you."

"The three musketeers will not have their adventure in Japan this year," she said softly. "Perhaps the two of you can find another to take my place."

"No way," Sheki told her hotly.

"There will never be another you," Ronin assured her.

"You just got into town?"

"About an hour ago," he told her.

"He went over to see your mother. She knows," Sheki added. "But Mr. Know-it-all here says she can't."

"Male answer syndrome," Hana mumbled. "Men think they have all the answers. As I've tried to figure out the Toshi part of me-"

"He probably hears you," Sheki warned her.

"Of course. He knows me a better than I know him. And he-"

There was a knock on the door and Anne Possible entered the room. She smiled at her granddaughter and nodded to Hana. "Front desk said you were here," Dr. Possible told Sheki. She looked Ronin over critically, "And this is the young man who says magic is the problem with Hana?"

Sheki made the introductions, "Ronin, this is my grandmother, Anne Possible. Dr. Anne Possible, she's head of neurosurgery here. Grandma, this is Ronin. He's really incredible. He knows all kinds of healing stuff."

Anne gave Ronin a look of disapproval, "And can any of your chicken lips and voodoo charms do anything for Hana? I don't approve of quacks holding out false hopes."

"I have held out no false hopes. I have diagnosed the cause of Hana's illness and told her family to prepare for her death when the spirit of Toshimiru quits her body."

"Magic is not a diagnosis!" she snapped.

"Dr. Possible, if you were treating a patient with a brain tumor, and someone with no knowledge of the brain's physiology claimed the problem stemmed from eating too much licorice and could be cured by drinking gin I imagine you would have little patience for that sort of delusion."

"Damn right I… This is not like that!"

He raised one eyebrow. "It isn't? I have no objections to Western medicine, my dearest wish is to study it. There is much it can do. I would imagine you've run every test you can think of for Hana. Have you found a thing?"

"This is not about-"

"Have you found a thing? Have you diagnosed the cause of her illness? Can you offer any cure to her parents? If there is any false hope which has been offered for her recovery it has come from you, for I certainly did not give it."

Anne Possible looked angry, but before she could get a word out of her mouth Sheki spoke up, "Well, Grandma?"

"Well, Grandma, what?" Anne snapped.

"Is he right?"

"We haven't diagnosed the problem. We have no cure. That doesn't mean magic is the answer!"

"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy," Ronin quoted. "Whether you choose to call it magic, or believe there are forces science can not yet explain, the experiences of your own daughter should tell you some questions may defy your ability to provide a rational answer. You can explain the birth of your granddaughters now with science - half a century ago the idea of two women having children would have been regarded as magic."

Anne's eyes narrowed, "How did you-"

Sheki threw an arm around his shoulders. "He's practically family."

"Your mothers are not going to be happy about this," Anne muttered. She looked down at Hana in the hospital bed. "I won't believe a word you say," she warned Ronin. "But how do you explain this?"

In a voice low enough to allow Hana to drift back to sleep Ronin explained her birth, death, rebirth and the reason behind her abilities. It fit the stories of Hana she knew from the Stoppables, but she did not believe it. It fit the details Sheki had told her after her trips to Japan with Hana, but Anne did not believe it.

"And if your story were true," Dr. Possible asked as Ronin finished the story, "what could be done for Hana?"

He shook his head sadly, "I have no answer. I would give my own life to save her, if I could. The Master's spirit has been in her longer than he ever anticipated. He must return to the blade."

"Could we hide the Lotus Blade or something," Sheki suggested.

"Wouldn't work. Toshimiru will return to the blade. He wanted to return when Hana came to Japan. I persuaded him to let her return home. You see the pain she's in. It isn't good for him either. It ends tomorrow. We can end his time here with dignity, or he will simply return without any ceremony. Those are the options."

Sheki no longer felt like showing Ronin around Middleton when they left the hospital.

"That's okay," he told her. "I really need to rest from the flight."

"I guess there's later."

"I hope so," he answered.

The answer seemed odd to Sheki. He had said he would not go back to Japan with Sensei. How could there not be a later?

Back at the house Kim offered to take Hirotaka and Ronin out for dinner, "We've got a couple really nice Japanese restaurants in town."

"Princess," Shego commented, "when you go to Japan do you eat at McDonalds?"

"These aren't junk food places!"

"Yeah, but Japan is full of good Japanese restaurants. We're taking them to the Sirloin Palace."

"Fine," Kim sighed. "Let me call Bonnie and the kids." When Kim called Bonnie at the Stoppables she teased her about how Hirotaka had preferred the brunette to either Kim or Monique when he had been in Middleton on a visit. "Ron is staying here to meditate - want to come to dinner with us and flirt with Hiro like old times?"

"No! I'm staying here with the kids," Bonnie shouted and hung up.

Kim stared at the cell phone for a minute in surprise, then remembering that Bonnie had a sister-in-law facing death, Ron's parents stressed out, and a long flight to Middleton with two children Kim decided Bonnie was simply too tried and stressed to be good company.

In the Stoppable home Bonnie found herself shaking. She knew her fears were irrational, but she remembered how much Yori had meant to Ron. Ron had asked Yori to marry him, she was his second choice. That fact shouldn't matter any more. It was the past. But it still scared her.

The Japanese guests did not want to linger over dinner, they needed their sleep after the flight to the US.

Briana, Jason, Jessica, and other friends around Middleton were urged to visit Hana the next day. They were not told Ronin's diagnosis. Everyone expressed hopes and prayers she'd be out of the hospital and feeling better soon.

By the late afternoon Anne Possible was in the hospital room with the Stoppables, Kim, Shego and Sheki. Kasy had taken Jane, Aaron, and Becky back to the big house. Ron stood to the side, feeling wretched; he had not been able to tap into the Mystical Monkey Power. _"Please, God, I'll be at services every Shabbot for a year and won't complain if you just let me call on the Power."_

Hana said her final goodbyes to her family and Sheki. She sighed at her mother's tears. "Perhaps it would have been better for you to never have adopted me. I'm sorry I'm giving you so much pain."

"Don't say that!" her father said. "You've given us so much joy through the years we…" Like his wife he broke down also.

Sheki looked at her watch. "It's time. I'm going to go get Sensei and Ronin. Toshimiru might want to say something to you. Do you want to-"

"I'm not saying anything to that creature who is killing my daughter!" Rachel declared.

"He gave me life also," Hana said softly.

Sheki left the hospital room to find Sensei and Ronin. The two men waited in Anne Possible's office. When the three entered Hana's room her parents were gone, Bonnie. Kim, and Shego left with them for a family waiting room.

"It is time?" Hana asked.

There was sadness in Sensei's voice. "It is time."

Hana looked one last time at Ron, "Goodbye, Brother," then looked at Ronin. "Goodbye, Little Brother. You must tell him."

"Are you able to summon the Monkey Power?" Ronin asked Ron. "Now is the time to call upon it."

Anne Possible wondered what Ronin meant. Ron closed his eyes and began to breathe slowly. He needed the power now. He had never needed it so much in his life. He had to get the thoughts of failure out of the back of his mind.

Hirotaka placed the Lotus Blade on Hana. With one hand she grasped it, and Hana was gone.

"+Master?+" Hirotaka asked.

"+Yes.+"

"+We are here for your return home.+"

"Isn't there anything you can do for Hana?" Sheki blurted out.

"I fear not, I created the spell long ago and did not realize what consequences it might have," the ancient warrior spoke through Hana's mouth. "Her parents are not here?"

"They blame you for her death," Ronin explained.

"I am sorry for that. They are good people." He looked at Hirotaka. "+You have grown in the last three years. May you continue to grow and keep my school strong.+"

Hiro bowed, "+Thank you, Master.+"

Toshimiru looked at Ronin through Hana's eyes. "+She fears you will do something rash. I have a better sense of what you might try. Do not risk your own life. It is not what she would want.+"

"+We must all do what we believe best,+" Ronin answered.

"+Do not rely so much on your heart instead of your head. You are a man of intellect, you should use it.+" The warrior looked at Sheki, "If I had only had the body of a man. We would have been lovers."

"You're too old for me," Sheki reminded him. "It is a shame you weren't interested in Kasy. She wouldn't have minded the fact Hana was a girl."

"Kasy does not compare to you."

"That's not what the boys think."

"Children, what do they know? It takes wisdom to appreciate true beauty. May I ask a favor before I return to my rest?"

"Anything, Toshi."

"A kiss."

"A kiss?" Sheki repeated nervously.

"+Master,+" Ronin protested, "+I don't think-+"

"+I will not take them all,+" Toshimiru told him. "+There will be plenty left for you.+"

Ronin blushed and fell silent, hoping Sheki didn't know enough Japanese to understand what had been said.

Sheki hesitantly approached the hospital bed, and leaned over. With the arm not holding the Lotus Blade Toshimiru drew her close. The kiss lasted long enough to embarrass everyone in the room.

"+Master,+" Hirotaka protested, "+it is most unseemly.+"

The kiss ended, with Sheki panting, "+Don't be such a prude,+" Toshimiru laughed. "+I always enjoyed life. The legends you tell at Yamanouchi exaggerate my virtues.+"

"I thought your last request would be something different," Sheki stammered as she stepped back. "I brought a bottle of sake."

Toshimiru smiled, "You are the perfect woman. A kiss and a glass of wine and I will rest in peace."

Sheki got the glass bottle from a bag she had left at the side of the room. She poured the wine from the glass bottle into a ceramic container and gave cups to Hirotaka, Ronin, Toshimiru. Ron appeared to be deep in concentration so she offered the fourth cup to her grandmother, who shook her head no. Anne Possible frowned as Sheki kept the fourth cup for herself. A green glow surrounded Sheki's hand, heating the sake, and then she filled the four cups.

"To the memory of Hana," Toshimiru offered, and the four drained their cups.

Sheki collected the four cups and Ronin moved a chair to the side of the bed and took the hand which had held the cup.

"Goodbye, Toshi," Sheki whispered softly.

"Mr. Stoppable! The Monkey Power!" Ronin barked.

On the bed, Hana's eyes closed. Hirotaka removed the Lotus Blade from her limp hand and the monitoring equipment at the side of the bed began to beep as it flatlined.

Anne Possible stood to the side. Her instinct was to call for electro-shock and try and restart Hana's heart, but the girl had left strict orders for no effort at resuscitation - and while she still didn't believe in magic the drama she had just witnessed made her suspect any effort would be in vain.

"The Monkey Power!" Ronin shouted again.

The monitoring equipment continued to show flatlines. Ron stared at the monitors that registered his sister as dead, "I can't," he admitted.


	4. Death Watch

Boilerplate Disclaimer: The various characters from the Kim Possible series are all owned by Disney. Any and all registered trade names property of their respective owners. Cheap shots at celebrities constitute fair usage.

**Death Watch**

"You can not summon the Power?" Hirotaka asked Ron calmly.

"No… I… I failed her."

Sensei sighed, "It is not certain it would have worked. I am sorry about Hana, Everyone at Yamanouchi will miss her." He turned to the young man, "You tried. It is time to release her body."

"No!"

"What do you mean, no?"

"I mean, no. There may be no life force for her spirit, but I will not release her body yet."

"What are you talking about?" Anne Possible demanded.

"I will not release Hana's body."

"Hana is dead."

"No, she's not."

"Look at the monitors," Dr. Possible told him harshly. "She is dead."

"She is not alive, but she is not dead. She is…" He turned to Sensei, "+I need an English word for her condition.+"

"+I don't have one.+" Hirotaka looked at Anne Possible, "I am not certain how to describe the condition he has achieved. At the moment Hana is not alive, but neither is she truly dead. She is-"

"Like, in limbo or stasis?" Sheki suggested.

"Perhaps, I am not exactly certain what those terms mean. Her life is gone, but he holds her body now and will not let it die."

"That isn't possible," Dr. Possible snapped. "She is alive, or she is dead."

"Which of the seventeen definitions of death used by doctors do you wish me to apply?" Ronin asked.

"Grandma?"

"He's exaggerating," Anne told her granddaughter, "but not by much. And you're saying she's alive?"

"I do not say she is alive. But she is not dead. My heart beats for her. I breathe for her-"

"That isn't possible!"

"Difficult, Dr. Possible," Hirotaka told her, "but not impossible. You have ways of doing it with machinery. He does it by the force of his own will." He turned to Ronin, "But you can not bring her back, and you know that. Release her body before you harm yourself."

"Harms himself?" Sheki asked.

"It is a great strain on his own body. He will exhaust himself."

Anne Possible stepped over and took the young man's pulse. His breathing was rapid, and pulse alarming. She frowned at her findings, "What drugs have you taken?"

"No drugs, Dr. Possible. You are aware of the control of their bodies some achieve through meditation or bio-feedback."

"Yes, but-"

"Despite his youth he is beyond anyone who has been studied in terms of his knowledge and ability." Hirotaka answered.

Anne pressed her lips together tightly; she would not waste words on anyone who could believe such nonsense.

"Sensei?" Ronin asked.

"Yes?"

"I lied to you about the connection between Hana's body and my own. If you pull my hand from hers, I will die."

"You cannot be serious."

"I am quite serious. As long as I believe there is the chance for hope, I will not release her. If you force the matter, I will die as well."

"There is no hope," Anne interrupted. "You have to accept facts. Hana is dead."

Hirotaka answered, "As long as he holds her hand and shares his life force with her she has not truly died, even though she does not live."

"Which makes no sense! He can't do anything to bring her back. He has said that himself. You say he only maintains some spark in her, and nobody can see that. Why would he risk dying when it is helpless?"

"Because she is his best friend in the world. Because he does not wish to live if she dies. Because he would regard her death as a failure he could not live with."

Sheki came up behind Ronin and put her hands on his shoulders. "This isn't what Hana wanted. You know that. Please don't-"

"Get her out of here!" Ronin shouted.

Sheki stared at him in disbelief, "What?"

"Get her out of here!" he shouted again.

Sensei took Sheki's arm and pulled her back, "I do not understand his request, but will you please honor it and step into the hall?"

"But I-"

"Get her out of here!"

Hurt by the death of her friend and the order to leave Sheki stumbled from the room out into the hallway.

"What was that about?" an angry Dr. Possible demanded.

"I need to concentrate. She was a distraction."

"You have to stop this. I need to tell the Stoppables Hana has died. They need to arrange the funeral."

"I will not leave. It is my death if you pull me away."

Thoroughly annoyed with the young man Anne stalked from the room. Sheki stood in the hallway and followed as Anne left to tell the Stoppables. Anne's expression gave them the news.

"I'll… I'll call the funeral home," Jacob Stoppable offered.

Anne hesitated. "This will sound peculiar, but could you please wait a little while. The young man who came from Japan? He's having some kind of hysterical fit and-"

"What?" Rachel demanded.

"Oh, he's not wild. He was holding Hana's hand when she died, and he refuses to let go. He can't accept her death - insists that he will die if we try and force the issue. I'd rather not have a scene. He felt like she was the best friend he had and he needs time with her before he can accept what happened."

Before her husband could object Rachel spoke, "I understand. We'd like to go and see her also."

Kim and Shego accompanied the Stoppables back to the hospital room.

"Well, that lie went terribly well," Sheki said to her grandmother as the others left.

"It wasn't a lie. Hana's dead. I don't know what he is doing or imagines will happen, but Hana is dead. In a couple hours lividity and rigor mortis will set in and the young fool will have to admit the truth. I don't think he is going to die if someone jerks his hand away from hers, but I don't want a scene. This is painful enough without someone having a screaming fit. He's in the denial stage of grief, he'll work through it to acceptance."

"And if he doesn't?"

"I don't see that he has a choice. Accept the truth or lose his mind. Despite his belief in magic he seems rational enough."

"He's not hysterical."

"And you're a head doctor?"

"I don't think being a brain surgeon makes you a psychologist."

"Or a psychiatrist. And I don't think they still use the word hysterical for a diagnosis. But that's what I'm calling it. He isn't screaming and running around in a blind panic. But he's showing an irrational reaction to a grief he can't accept. That's close enough for me."

Ron and Hirotaka stood on opposite sides of the hospital room, neither acknowledging the other's presence. Ron's attention was focused on his sister, and his own feeling of failure. He felt this was his fault. The young man sitting by her meant nothing to him. Hirotaka accepted that Hana had died, he felt sorrow at the fact, but it was a fact. He worried for Ronin and what he would tell Yori if anything happened to him.

Rachel Stoppable went to the side of the hospital bed and put her hands on Ronin's shoulders. Bonnie and Ron's father crossed the room and put their arms around Ron. Kim and Shego stood by Hirotaka, not sure what to say. At first there was only silence in the room. The first words were spoken by Rachel Stoppable, and surprised the rest of her family, "Come home with us," she told the stranger from Japan, "it's time."

"I can't."

"You're not ready to let go. None of us are ready to let go, but you have to. We need family in times like this." Her husband, son, and daughter-in-law wondered what she was talking about.

The Stoppables, Kim, and Shego remained about half an hour in the room. Ron stayed when his family and Kim and Shego left.

"I don't like leaving her there with that kid," Mr. Stoppable complained as they left.

"You know how much he meant to her," his wife reminded him, "how much she talked about him. She meant a great deal to him as well. He's working through his grief too, give him a little time."

Anne Possible went to her office and tried to work while Sheki went home with her mothers. Anne was too angry to concentrate, but managed to wait a couple hours before returning to confront Ronin. By now both lividity and rigor mortis would be setting in. Except they weren't.

Anne stood for a minute trying to understand what could have happened, why did Hana's body show none of the signs of death?

"Well?" the young man holding her hand asked, "I assume you came to point out empirical evidence to me. What are your findings?"

"I don't believe in magic," Anne snapped. "I don't know what is happening, but magic is not the answer. Hana is not alive."

"And I never said she was. She is at that point between life and death. I can do no more, but I will do that as long as I draw breath."

"Stop this," Hirotaka ordered again. "You can accomplish nothing by this. Accept her death."

"No!"

While Sensei and Ronin talked Anne laid out a few instruments she had brought with her - a stethoscope, thermometer, and blood pressure cuff. He didn't protest as she gave him a quick examination. All the young man's vitals were in dangerous territory.

"I don't know what you're doing. I still think you've taken drugs," she warned him, "but you have to stop. Even if you're doing something I can't understand to keep the signs of death away you're only hurting yourself."

"I will not."

"I'm going back to my office for another hour or so. I don't know why her body isn't showing rigor, but it will happen - it has too." She looked at Ron, "Go home, your parents need you."

"I…"

"You can do nothing here," Hirotaka told him coldly. "Do not let your parents down."

Ron wanted to respond, but could think of nothing to say. He followed Anne Possible from the room. Hirotaka sighed, "+Son?+"

"+Yes, Sensei?+"

"+I need the truth. Have you really bound your spirit to Hana in such a manner that you will die if I separate you?+"

"+The truth?+"

"+The truth.+"

"+The truth is, I am not certain. That was my desire, but I'm not sure whether I managed to get it right. Please, don't test it. My hope is that the connection will be severed when I pass out from exhaustion. I will live, but I will have done all that was within my power.+"

"+And if you exhaust yourself to the point of your own death?+"

"+I am willing to take the risk.+"

"+And even if you can't kill yourself from exhaustion, if you have joined your spirit to her body there is a chance you might die when you fall unconscious and let go of her hand?+"

"+It is possible.+"

"+Thank you for the truth. I do not approve of what you're doing, but I will not try and separate you now. I will keep trying to talk sense in you. But you have to realize, I don't want to tell your mother I let you die for your own stubborn refusal to accept reality. When you get too weak, I will intervene. I won't give you my blessing for what you are trying to do, but I will give you my patience until then. Remember, Hana would not want you to die in an effort to save her.+"

"+Thank you for not interfering.+" The argument on what Hana would have wished made him question his own decision, but would not stop him.

"+I said only that I will not interfere now.+" Hirotaka reminded him.

Anne dozed a few times in her office chair. Every time she returned to the hospital room she found the same tableau. Sensei sat in a chair at the side of the room while Ronin refused to leave Hana's side, and the girl's body showed none of the signs of a corpse.

The Stoppables arrived back at the hospital in the morning, to face a tired and unhappy Dr. Possible who requested a little more time before contacting the funeral home.

"I don't understand, what's the hold up?" an angry Jacob Stoppable protested. "Hana is dead. Her body shouldn't be left in there."

"I agree with you," Anne assured him. "But I've never had a death this complicated.

"Complicated!" He shouted, "What's so complicated? My daughter's dead and some pervert won't let go of her corpse so it can receive proper burial!"

"Jake," his wife chided softly.

"This is one of the places it gets complicated," Anne muttered. "I'm not sure I'm going to call Hana a corpse."

That didn't calm her father down, but he listened as his wife asked, "What do you mean?"

"Doctors have had different definitions of death over the years - heart death, brain death, cellular death… Hana is dead, but her cells still live. I don't know what he is doing, or how, but it is like he has frozen her at that instant when she ceased to live but death hadn't really set in."

Hana's father tried to grasp the concept, "So… She could be revived some way?"

"I don't know of any way. He says he doesn't know any way. I think he's praying for a miracle and it's not going to come."

"He needs to let her go," Jake said. "The waiting is as hard as her death."

"One other complication. Remember, he said if he lets go of her hand, he will die."

"That's ridiculous!"

"I think so. But I don't think it's possible for someone to do what he's doing now - preserving Hana at that point between life and death. I don't-"

"It's not ridiculous," Hana's father said in anger, "that's disgusting and obscene!"

His wife laid a hand on his arm, "Jake, calm down. He's trying to deal with the loss like the rest of us."

"Well he has to stop it!" and moved towards the room with his wife, son, and Dr. Possible following.

As the angry man pushed open the door Hirotaka moved so swiftly to stand between Jacob Stoppable and Ronin it seemed like he magically appeared.

Startled, Hana's father stopped, and his wife took hold of his arm for support and to keep him from moving. Ron moved around his mother and father and stood at the far wall, silently watching and feeling miserable.

"Excuse me," Anne Possible said and moved around the Stoppables. She had left the stethoscope and other tools on the stand by Hana's bed and gave Ronin another fast exam.

"How is he, Doctor?" Sensei asked.

"I… I wish I knew. I don't know what he is doing so I don't know how to evaluate the readings. But this isn't good. He's going to burn himself out at this rate."

"Burn himself out?" Rachel asked anxiously.

"His temperature, heart and respiration rates, everything is elevated. I'm worried he's going to harm himself with whatever he's doing."

"He has said he will try and maintain her body at this point until he himself dies," Hirotaka explained to the Stoppables. "He also claims to be linked to her body in such a way that, should we force him to separate his hand from hers, the shock will kill him. I am trying to talk some sense into him, but he is young and loved Hana very much. Dr. Possible does not believe this, but at the moment she is not certain what to believe."

"Anne?"

"I don't know, Rachel. I can't explain what is happening. That's why I asked you to wait on calling the funeral home."

Hana's mother was visible upset, "He might die?"

"I don't know! I don't know what he's doing. But whatever it is puts a strain on his whole body."

"Stop him!" Rachel begged. "Someone stop him, please. I won't lose them both!"

Still angry with the young man for whatever he was doing to his daughter's body, and making his wife hysterical Jacob put an arm around his wife and pulled her gently toward the door.

"No," she said firmly.

"The waiting area," he suggested. "You need to sit down and rest for a minute. I know it's hard on you. It's hard on all of us."

"I need to talk with him!"

"You can talk with him later. You're too upset just now."

The door closed behind the Stoppables, leaving a puzzled Dr. Possible wondering what Rachel had meant by, 'I won't lose them both.'


	5. All the Hate in the World

Boilerplate Disclaimer: The various characters from the Kim Possible series are all owned by Disney. Any and all registered trade names property of their respective owners. Cheap shots at celebrities constitute fair usage.

**All the Hate in the World**

There was a second bed in Hana's room. Ron sat on it and tried to calm down. The kid holding Hana's hand needed a miracle. _"I can do this,"_ Ron thought. _"I just need to focus on calling the power. Forget the past failures. Forget the fact I don't even know what I'm supposed to do if I call the power. Forget my sister is dead because I failed her…"_ He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and tried to start over. He reminded himself he needed to focus, but the guilt and fear in the back of his mind kept reminding him of past failures and kept him from accomplishing it.

"What is your opinion, Dr. Possible?" Sensei asked Anne.

"Hana's dead."

"I know your opinion on that subject. I am more concerned with your opinion of Ronin and his health."

Anne hesitated, "I can't be sure. I haven't encountered anything like this before. But I know this isn't good for him. The way his heart is going and his temperature is elevated? He can seriously injure himself. He needs to stop this, now."

In the hospital waiting room Jacob Stoppable held his wife's hands and listened to her. "What?" he asked in disbelief. "You can't be serious."

"I'm very serious."

"Did… Did he say anything? Did Ron?"

"No, but I know. That's the reason Hana didn't want to say his… That's the reason she always called him little brother. She knew."

"Why didn't she tell us?"

"I don't know… I don't understand any of this. I don't think Ron knows. You remember that Japanese girl who came over here? The one he said he asked to marry him?"

"I… I think I remember. How can you be so sure?"

"I just know it… I'm calling Sheki," she told her husband and pulled out her phone.

"Sheki?"

"She knows too, I'm sure of it."

He sat quietly as his wife made the call, not sure what to believe. Sheki answered after a couple rings. "Hello?"

"Sheki, this is Rachel at the hospital."

"How is Ronin?"

"Who is he?"

"How is he? Grandma said she's worried about him."

"So am I. Who is his father?"

"His father?"

"You heard me."

"I, uh, don't like talking about people behind their backs."

"I'm not asking for gossip. Who is his father?"

Sheki hesitated a second, then ended the call, turned her phone off and stuck it in a dresser drawer.

"What did she say?" Jacob asked his wife.

"She hung up on me."

"She hung up?"

"She knows, but didn't want to say."

He stood up, "What are you doing?"

"I'm going back to the room."

"Don't make a scene."

"I won't make a scene. I… I just want to look at him for a minute."

Hirotaka moved between Jacob Stoppable and Ronin when the door opened, but Hana's father made no move to enter the room. He said nothing, but gestured for Sensei to move slightly to the side. Hiro stepped aside sufficiently for Jacob could see his daughter, but it was not the daughter he stared at. The young man did not look pure Japanese. His nose was too long and there were subtle things which seemed familiar about him. Jacob looked over at his son, then back to the young man. He closed the door silently and walked quietly back to his wife.

"Well," she demanded.

"I don't know… I don't know. He might be. What do we do?"

"I don't know. I'm too upset to think right now. But I don't want to lose them both. Talk with me. We've got to be able to figure something out."

Rachel returned to the hospital room by herself. "We're too upset to stay," she told Ron. "We're going home." She turned to Sensei, "You're trying to talk sense into him?"

"I am trying."

"Thank you." She turned and rested a hand on Ronin's shoulder. "Listen to him. Please. Other people need you too."

Hours passed. Ron's sense of helplessness kept him from being able to concentrate. Hirotaka and Anne Possible grew increasingly concerned for Ronin.

"You have to drink fluids," she warned. "You're getting badly dehydrated."

"I can't spare the energy needed for the digestive process," he told her.

After Anne left Hiro moved to Ronin's side and laid a hand on his shoulder. "+You're hurting yourself. I'm going to try and stop you very soon. I can't face your mother if anything happens to you.+"

"+A little longer, please. I have to try.+"

"+You've done all you can do. It was a heroic effort, no one will accuse you of failing.+"

Ron's own Japanese had grown rusty, and the two men spoke quietly, "What are you saying?"

"I was telling him what a pity it was Monkey Fist was not here. He might have saved your sister."

"What?"

"The Mystical Monkey Power. Men have fought and died in pursuit of it over the centuries. Monkey Fist devoted his life to searching for its secrets, and it was wasted on you. He would not have lost the ability to call upon it."

Ron said nothing. Sensei was describing the very way he felt about himself.

"You have a gift handed to you other men can only dream of, and you sit on your fat, white ass and do nothing with it. Now your sister dies because you are a sorry sack of shit who can not be bothered to lift a finger to help her."

"That's not true!"

"Of course it's true. You sit there crying about your weakness while this boy risks his life hoping to save her. You aren't a man. A man would do something. Old Sensei did not reject your request for Yori's hand because you were gaijin. You were rejected because you are less than a man. A weakling like you had no place at Yamanouchi."

"Stop it!"

Sensei smiled inwardly and gently squeezed Ronin's shoulder. He hoped the boy was not too weak from exhaustion to feel what Hirotaka felt. "No woman deserving to be called a woman would marry a weakling such as you," Sensei sneered. "Did you find some used-up whore in the gutter somewhere to wed? Someone who appreciates a weakling unable to make love so she can finally put her legs together and rest."

"I said, stop it!" Ron shouted.

"Oh, that's right, you did," Sensei replied in a mocking tone. "Stop it or what? Does the worm threaten to grow a spine? Your weakness was the death of your sister. The proof of your failure lies there on the bed."

Ronin had been too exhausted at first to feel the energy which had begun to coalesce in the room. He had started to wonder if his efforts would result in his own death, now he dared to hope. He had not admitted dizzy spells he had experienced in the last hour and would fight them now. He clenched his jaws and concentrated with what little energy he had left.

"A worm like you can not have children. We flew in from California with your wife and the two children she has told you are yours. You don't really believe that, do you? Even a tired whore needs the love of a man at some point, so she has slipped from your home and found someone capable a planting his seed within her."

Ron was on his feet now, his fists clenched in a rage he still fought to control. Even a skeptic might have seen a blue aura beginning to shimmer around him.

"What is it like to raise another man's bastards? Did your whore lie to you and tell you they are your children? Are you a great enough fool to believe the lies of a whore, or do you know in your heart of hearts they are little bastards and that all you are to your wife is a meal ticket?"

Blue light filled the room, but Ron was too angry to see it.

"It must be a hard thing to raise another man's bastards, gaijin, or are you a fool on top of being a limp-dicked turd and you actually believe the lies your whore whispers to you be bed before she slips out to sell her body?"

Ron leapt across the room. He swung. Something held his arm in check, keeping him from killing Sensei. Not taking his eyes off Hirotaka's grinning face Ron pulled his arm, trying to free himself from whatever held him back from murder. His first effort did not free him from the resistance. He jerked his arm again, and failed again. Sensei laughed at him, "Worm! You are less than nothing."

The energy crackled now, audible as well as visual, even Ron saw it now - the energy he would use to break Sensei into pieces. He jerked his arm again, and still failed to free it. He took his eyes off Hirotaka just long enough to see what held him back. The young man, Ronin, was trying to stop him. The hand not holding Hana's hand was not wrapped around Ron's wrist. _"He's a kid, he can't stop me,"_ Ron thought and tried harder to jerk his arm away. Ronin held on desperately.

"Don't try and stop me," Ron growled.

Before he could make another attempt to pull his arm free Hirotaka had his arms around Ron, pinioning his arms to his side. "Threatening children now, you sorry sack of shit? You are too weak to face a man so you threaten a child?"

"I'm going to kill you!" Ron roared and struggled to free himself. How could this be happening? He had enough power in him to punch through brick walls. Hiro had greater skills in the martial arts, but he had no strength to withstand Ron's power. What was wrong? Ron struggled harder, where was the energy going he needed to kill his enemy? He glanced again at the young man holding his wrist, the youth was charged with the same blue glow that saturated Ron's body, he was leaching power from Ron to keep him from harming Hirotaka. "I'll kill you both!" Ron yelled and began to struggle harder.

"+Hold him!+" Ronin shouted.

"+I'm trying!+" Hirotaka grunted from the exertion.

"You're not stealing my power!" Suddenly Ron wondered if this was exactly what had been needed. He said nothing, but the power flickered slightly.

Hirotaka dropped Ron's arms and slapped him, hard. "Focus, you piece of shit! Worthless turd! Worm!"

Ron closed his eyes tightly, picturing a hundred painful deaths for Hirotaka; mutilating Sensei's body in his mind.

Hiro slapped him again. "Worthless white piece of pig flesh!"

Ron clenched his fists, stomping on Hirotaka's face in his mind. Ron wasn't sure how long he stood there focused on his hate. It might have been seconds. Perhaps it was minutes. It seemed like an eternity. The hand clasped around his wrist grew limp and fell away. Ron panicked and opened his eyes. Ronin lay on the floor where he had collapsed. Hirotaka scooped up the youth. Ron didn't see what he did with the young man. Ron's eyes were on the monitoring equipment. Anne Possible had turned off the audio beeper, but left the monitor attached to Hana - a demonstration to Ronin of the futility of his actions. The heart monitor showed a regular beat.

With superstitious fervor Ron grabbed Hana's hand. He had no idea what the young man had been doing. The Monkey Power no longer glowed blue around him. But the young man had held Hana's hand for hours, and now she was breathing. Her heart was beating. In his mind Ron knew he accomplished nothing by grasping her hand, but in his heart he believed she would keep breathing and her heart keep beating if he held on.

Sensei laid Ronin on the other bed. The young man was in poor shape, and Hirotaka had not medical training to know how serious. He didn't understand how to call for a nurse or doctor with the handset on the bed and left the room without Ron even realizing he was gone. He cursed Ron for being out-of-shape, and himself for not provoking Ron's anger sooner as he ran down the hall. He grabbed the first two medical personnel he could find, two interns, and dragged them to the room.

"Hey! What are you doing?" the woman protested.

Sensei didn't answer. He pointed to Ronin and went out to hunt for nurses. When he got back with a nurse and another intern he could see the concern on the faces of the first two interns.

"What is wrong?" Sensei demanded.

"At least hyperthermia, dehydration, and exhaustion. Good thing you got him here. Where'd it happen?"

Hirotaka chose not to say, 'Here in the hospital'. In the confusion around the bed, and orders from the woman intern to the nurse to prepare an IV solution no one noticed the lack of an answer.

More medical personnel entered the room at the electronic signal from the first pair. Ron called, "Can someone look at my sister, please?"

A late arrival decided Ronin was receiving enough attention and went over to Hana's bed. He glanced at Ron, and down at the young woman on the bed.

"Adopted," Ron said in answer to the unasked question.

The doctor looked at the chart. The staff had been warned the room held a dead woman. The woman on the bed was alive. Obviously the dead woman was gone. The chart on the bed, however, appeared to be for the woman who had died.

"Who's this?" he snapped.

"My sister. I told you that."

"I need a name. Why's she here? What am I supposed to check her for? What did they tell you when she was admitted?"

"She's Hana Stoppable. She's been here a couple weeks."

"Hana Stoppable died."

"She got better."

"You don't get better from death."

"Please, just look at her. Is she okay? Would you call Dr. Possible?"

The last request made sense. Dr. Possible had warned everyone working the floor that odd things might happen in this room. She alerted them to a man in the room who had lost touch with reality. The intern suspected he was dealing with a man in a fantasy world, but humored him by giving the woman on the bed a fast examination. "I don't know who she is, but she's alive. Appears kind of weak… Look, I'm not doing a detailed examination unless I know the patient, why she was admitted and who her primary physician is - it's not ethical."

"Will you call Dr. Possible?"

"I'll do that for you."

"Thanks."

The intern breathed a sigh of relief and headed for the door.

Hours passed. Anne Possible really had no business returning to the hospital room as often as she did. None of her degrees, specialties, or administrative responsibilities gave her a medical reason to be there. She didn't need a medical reason. The Stoppables were family to her, and that was reason enough.

Dr. Possible called Rachel with the news, but warned her not to come until the next day. Anne timed her visits to the room with the doctors monitoring Ronin. The first couple hours had been touch-and-go, and she felt vaguely guilty for allowing him to go on as long as he had. Anne looked over at Ron, standing by Hana's bed and holding her hand, then glanced down at Ronin, "I still want to know how you did that," she whispered. "And don't tell me magic." As Ronin's condition improved she managed to talk Hirotaka into returning to Kim's home to sleep - while he had not exhausted himself like Ronin he had been up for a day and a half. Ron refused to leave. "Men don't listen to reason," Anne grumbled in her mind as she returned to her office. It seemed like she had lived there for the last two days.

Hana groaned and half opened her eyes to see the blurry form of Ron standing beside the hospital bed. "Brother," she mumbled, "you're hurting my hand."

Ron forced himself to let go Hana's hand. Her eyes closed and she went back to sleep. He found himself grinning like an idiot. Not since the first time he had heard Aaron call him "Da-da," had words ever sounded so sweet.


	6. Teach Your Children Well

Boilerplate Disclaimer: The various characters from the Kim Possible series are all owned by Disney. Any and all registered trade names property of their respective owners. Cheap shots at celebrities constitute fair usage.

A special thanks to all reviewers: Alexander-Godslayer, Charles Gray, Madhatterak, Mr. Wizard, Noncynic, ShadowCub, sweetPixiesmile, Thomas Linquist, and Well of Silence.

**Teach Your Children Well, Their Father's Hell Did Slowly Go By**

Faintly curious why they even kept a land-line James Possible answered the phone, "Hello?"

"This is Rachel. Is Anne there? I can't find Ron."

"She didn't want to call you last night, hoped you were asleep. Ron was wiped out at the hospital yesterday. She found an empty bed and ordered him to lay down."

"Good. When he wasn't at Kim's I was worried."

"I should have called when I got up, but everyone's missed so much sleep lately I didn't want to wake you."

"Thanks. Jake and I will try and wait until this afternoon to visit the hospital. Anne told us to let everyone get as much rest as possible. But I don't think Jake and I will sleep well until we see them."

Ronin might have appreciated a little more sleep. He awoke to Hirotaka's touch. "+I leave in a few hours. I plan to tell your mother how brave you were. I will leave out how foolish you were,+" he said softly enough to allow Hana to continue sleeping.

The young man yawned, "+Visiting hours already?+"

"+No. Not until much later. I wanted to see you privately. Ask if there was any message you wish to send to your mother… I need to ask your forgiveness…+"

"+Ask my forgiveness?+"

"+I said things yesterday… Things that I did not mean… I said them only to provoke him but... I… I'm sorry if I hurt you.+"

"+You said them for Hana. I was afraid you would be hurt. It was dangerous.+"

"+You did the work.+"

"+I told you, I wasn't certain I could siphon the energy Hana needed. He could have killed you if I failed.+"

"+I had faith in you. You risked your life, could I do less? But I need to know if you will forgive me?+"

"+I think perhaps I understand you better now,+" Ronin answered. "+I am sorry for all the pain I brought you.+"

"+You brought me no pain. You were a baby. Any pain I suffered I brought on myself, by not accepting and loving you the way that I should. I was weak and foolish.+" He took the young man's hand. "+Never forget you have a family and home in Japan. We love you. You are always welcome home.+"

"+I will come next summer, if not earlier. I can bring Hana?+"

"+Of course. Sheki too, if you wish.+"

"+Thank you, Father. Tell Mom I promise to write to you both.+"

Ronin could remember very few hugs from the man who raised him. "+Thank you, Son,+" Hirotaka murmured as he hugged the young man tightly.

There was a noise from the hallway and Sensei disappeared from the room. If Ronin had not grown up at Yamanouchi he might have imagined the entire conversation a dream. Instead he thought, _"Showoff"_ at the ease with which Hirotaka vanished as he smiled, lay back on the pillow, and closed his eyes.

Ron woke up an hour later. It took him a minute to realize he was in a hospital room. "Hey," he called to an orderly going by the door, "what's going on?"

The man came in and checked the chart hanging at the foot of the bed, "Looks like you're scheduled for a hernia repair at eleven."

"What! That's got to be a mistake!"

The orderly squinted at the chart. "Need my glasses," he mumbled. "You're right. You're scheduled for a vasectomy." The look of shock and panic made it all worthwhile. Then the man laughed, "Nah, it's just a note from Dr. Possible saying to let you sleep."

"My name's Ron Stoppable. My sister's in seven H, can I see her?"

"Visiting hours don't start for a couple hours." He handed the chart to Ron to read. "She says you weren't admitted, so technically you aren't even here and we aren't required to feed you. But I got a couple extra breakfasts on my cart - want one?"

"No thanks. Hospital food might put me in the hospital. Besides, I smell like I need a shower before I see anyone."

"I can get you a towel and soap."

"Better not. I'm not technically here anyway. I'll head home and shower and change."

It was a couple miles to Kim's house. Ron used the time to think. He needed to talk to Hirotaka.

He found Kasy in the kitchen when he reached the big house. "Sensei around?"

"I think so. I'm taking him to the airport in three hours."

"Any idea where he is?"

"Nope. He's quiet as a cat."

Ron had gone through most of the house when he noticed the window in his old, back bedroom was open. It went onto the porch roof. During his college years Ron would sometimes sit on the roof and think. He looked out and saw Hirotaka, then went out onto the roof himself.

Ron knew Hirotaka heard him as he crossed the roof, but the Japanese man remained unmoving. "Sensei?"

"It sounds odd to hear that word from your lips," the other man sighed, "Why don't you just call me Hiro?"

"Because I don't feel worthy. I am ashamed that I couldn't bring the power to help Hana, but I could call it to hurt you."

"It was a pure hatred you felt for me, it burned through all else. Your love for your sister had too many other thoughts associated with it. Family. All the good times and triumphs you shared with her. All of those made it difficult for you to focus your attention. Your mind was led astray by your love for her."

"I wish that were the only reason. I think fear of failure was an even greater problem."

"If you held that fear, it would certainly interrupt your focus. I imagine there were no such fears when you wanted to rip off my head."

"No… I wanted to kill you. I don't think of myself as a killer, but God, right then I wanted you dead. I'm ashamed of myself, but I think I'd have torn your heart out and stomped on it if I could."

"I regret having to say those things about your family. You did not respond when I simply insulted you and-"

"I was so disgusted with myself for my failure I felt like a worm. I thought I deserved it."

"I suspected that. But I trusted if I insulted your family you would defend their honor."

"Thank you, Sensei. I am glad Yamanouchi is in your hands."

The Japanese man nodded his head slightly in acknowledgment of Ron's words. Ron looked like he wanted to say more, and Hirotaka remained silent until Ron found the courage to ask, "Who is Ronin?"

"That is a question that could be asked of any of us. Who is Hana Stoppable? Who am I?"

"My mother thinks… She thinks that he…"

"Your mother is a very wise woman."

"Who is Ronin?"

Hirotaka stared into the distance. "He is a young man who has lived a harder life than he deserves. His mother loves him and spoiled him. His step-father resented him and let that resentment show - when he didn't simply neglect the boy to a point bordering on abuse. Many at Yamanouchi made fun of him for his mixed parentage. He retreated into books and study where his differences did not matter and became wise beyond his years. Hana… Hana was the center of the universe for him, his true friend, the light which made life bearable. Her visits to Yamanouchi the high point of his year. He has a tremendous crush on Sheki… The two of them exchange many letters. I suspect he believes himself in love."

"Does he know who his… who his real father is?"

"What does 'real' father mean? You know the meaning of ronin, don't you?"

"A ronin was a warrior without a master."

"Young Ronin is a man without a father. He knows the man who raised him - but he was no father to the boy. He knows the name of the man who contributed to his DNA, but that man is no father to the boy either."

Ron said nothing.

"He would like to meet you."

"I need to meet him."

"He is not returning to Japan with me. He plans to remain in Middleton for the present."

"Good, I… What am I going to tell Bonnie?"

"The truth is sometimes nice. And it requires no imagination. I hope you would not try and hide Ronin from her."

"Of course I'll tell her. I guess I just don't know how to say it, what words to use. What will she say to me? Will she hate me?"

"I spoke with her briefly on the flight here. She loves you very much. Do not let Ronin stand between you and your wife. For years I thought he stood between me and Yori. That was my error - do not repeat it. Love him as he deserves to be loved. He is a very fine young man."

They sat on the porch roof and talked for two hours. Ron talked of life with Bonnie and his work. Hiro spoke of Yori and Yamanouchi. Ron talked about his children and Hirotaka talked about Ronin and his own son.

"You will forgive me," Hirotaka said as the conversation drew to a close, "but I would prefer you not return to Yamanouchi. I have not yet gained sufficient mastery to remain calm in the presence of you and my wife. I often feel I am not yet worthy to head the school when I still have such weakness."

"I understand, Sensei. But I think you are worthy. You continue to learn and grow. The day when you think you know it all is the day you stop growing."

"Thank you, Ronald."

"I'm pretty sure Bonnie wouldn't let me go to Yamanouchi anyway… Heck, I don't know if I'm ready. Don't know what I'd say to Yori… Except I could say I hope the two of you are very happy together."

"Thank you. I will leave soon for Japan. A word of advice before I go. You might never need the Monkey Power again, but you should return to the discipline of calling upon it if needed. Either Hana or Ronin could help mentor you."

"Thank you, Sensei," Ron nodded. "I will try and follow your advice."

Hirotaka went back into the house through the open window while Ron remained seated on the porch roof, staring off into space and wondering how to tell the news to Bonnie.

Hana and Ronin talked quietly as interns looked them over. "I am sufficiently rested now that you can remove the IV," Ronin insisted. "But you need to bring me a couple liters of something to drink."

He was half way down the first liter when Dr. Possible entered the room with a short, fat man who sported a pair of wire-rimmed glasses on his nose, a huge moustache under his nose, and remarkably little hair on top of his pink and shining head. They didn't pause at Hana's bed but came straight to him.

"Glad you're feeling better," Anne commented. "Of course, if you say 'I told you so' there is a chance you might suffer a relapse."

"I would not dream of stating something so obvious."

"This is the miracle worker?" the plump man asked, taken aback by Ronin's youth.

"I wouldn't call him that," Dr. Possible corrected him.

"I am certain she has any number of names for me. But she can not use them in polite society."

Anne laughed, "You really are feeling better."

"It is a wonderful day to be alive."

"Ronin, this is Doctor Max Jones. He's in charge of placebos and fake medicine here. Max, this is Ronin. Ronin, what can you tell me about Max?"

Ronin suspected it was a test, "He suffers from arthritis in his left shoulder and hand. I suspect he takes medication for his high blood pressure, although such medication would be more effective with regular exercise. And what does it mean to be in charge of placebos and fake medicine?"

"I run the program at the hospital for holistic medicine, alternative therapies, and evaluation of new medical procedures and technologies."

"If it's not proven or doesn't work, Max is in charge of it," Anne explained to Ronin. "The nutritionists still working with you?" she asked Dr. Jones. "I know you're still liaison to the hospital chaplains."

"Some people think cutting you open or shooting you up with drugs are the only forms of medicine," Dr. Jones told the young man on the bed.

"Hey, I don't have to stay here to be insulted," Anne warned. "I can go back and let my secretary abuse me. I've let a lot of work slide recently and she's busting my chops over that. I'll leave you two to get better acquainted."

As Dr. Possible left Dr. Jones commented, "Someone is in a good mood today."

"I feel much better than I did yesterday."

"I was talking about her, but from what I hear you've got reason to feel good too. Hey, are you feeling strong enough that I can ask you a few questions?"

There were a lot more than a few questions. Ronin felt certain he was being tested again, but he didn't know why or if the questions would ever come to an end.

As the interview drew to a close however, Dr. Jones seemed happy. "I want you working here."

"You're offering me a job?"

"That's what I said. Full-time, part time, whatever. You name your own hours."

"I'm not certain if Dr. Possible would approve of your offer."

"Son, there are three things you need to know. First, I do the hires and fires for my staff. Human resources does what I tell 'em to do for my people. Second, I'm not afraid of the Dragon Lady and-"

"Dragon Lady?"

"Doctor Possible. Okay, I'm intimidated enough of her I wouldn't call her that to her face and you're smart enough to know you shouldn't either. But I'm only intimidated, she doesn't scare me."

"You said there were three things I needed to know."

"Oh, right. Third thing is, this was her idea. She called me this morning and said, 'Max, you're going to love this kid. We need him on staff here.'"

"She said that?"

"May not have been her exact words, but close enough. She's got a bias towards conventional therapies because she's seen too many people hurt by quacks. But she's too smart to reject anything which can help patients. She wants you here… You told her you hope to study medicine?"

The young man nodded.

"Working here would look good on the ol' résumé when you apply to med school. You'll get recommendations out of it too."

"Thank you, Sir."

"Max to you, kid," Dr. Jones said as he rose to his feet. He impulsively leaned over and tousled the young man's hair. "Give me a call in the next couple days. Tell my secretary I said you were important. I need someone who can do miracles."

Hana had fallen asleep during conversation between Dr. Jones and Ronin. She awoke for the visit from her parents. Her father stood by the side of her bed, holding her hand. "I feel weak," she told him. "Ronin says I will never run on ceilings again since Toshi left me."

"Good. Having to explain the footprints to the cleaners was always a pain."

"There are other things I won't be able to do. But I'm just me. No more Toshi. I can like boys now without getting sick to my stomach. I can have a boyfriend. I can kiss a guy. I can-"

"Let's just get you healthy first," her dad warned. "I didn't realize Toshi had made life easier for me."

"I think I even sound different!"

"Maybe. I'm just so glad you're still with us."

As Hana spoke with her father, at the other bed Rachel was still hugging Ronin. "You'll stay with us, of course."

"I have not yet made-"

"You're staying with us. Hana needs you."

"Yes, Mrs. Stoppable."

"Hmm, we can work on what you should call me later. You'll be staying in your father's old room."

"My father's…"

"You have a problem with that?"

"No, Mrs. Stoppable."

"Maybe we'll work on what you should call me sooner than I planned." She went back to hugging him.

After a few minutes the Stoppables changed patients. Rachel Stoppable hugged her daughter. "Why didn't you tell us about him?"

"I…"

"You are in so much trouble, young lady. You're going to be grounded until you feel strong enough to leave the house."

"Yes, Mom."

There were no immediate hugs or conversation at the other bedside. After a couple uncertain minutes Jacob Stoppable managed, "Thanks."

"You're welcome."

After another minute Ron's father asked, "Is this as weird and uncomfortable for you as it is for me?"

"Very likely."

"Did your grandmother ask you to stay with us?"

"I believe it was more in the form of an order."

"That's your grandmother. You didn't argue, did you?"

"No, Sir."

Jacob Stoppable nodded, "You're a smart kid. That's my side of the family."

"Yes, Sir."

After another minute of silence Mr. Stoppable commented, "If my mother was still alive, you'd kill her."

The young man looked alarmed, "I wouldn't wish to-"

"It was a joke. And a bad one, sorry. I'm just saying you're kind of a shock to us."

"Sorry."

"Don't be. Not all shocks are bad. We'll get used to each other. My wife doesn't like my jokes either."

Ron walked over to his parents' house. They were at the hospital but Bonnie sat watching a family movie with the children. He still didn't know what to say, even how to start. He didn't need to open the dialog.

"Your Mom thinks we need to talk," she said when he walked in. He nodded. "Kids, your Dad and I are going upstairs for a minute. No fights."

"No, Mom," Aaron promised.

Bonnie sat down on the guest room bed and patted the spot beside her. Ron sat down. "Ronin…" he began.

"Your Mom thinks he's your son."

"I think so too."

"He told you?"

"I haven't talked with him. I wanted to talk to you first. I asked Sensei. He told me without telling me."

"What?"

"It's this wise, mystical Japanese thing, like one hand clapping."

"What are you going to do?"

"I don't know. I never imagined anything like this. I…"

"Does this change anything between us?"

"What?"

"Ron. I love you. I knew you asked Yori to marry you. She was your first choice. You know I had other guys before you married me. We're married to each other now. I love you. I don't want our pasts to change anything between us."

"He's not exactly past. He's in a bed at the Middleton Hospital."

"Does he change anything between us?"

"I… This is just so weird. How would you feel to learn you had a kid you never knew about?"

"It's a little harder for women."

"Oh, yeah."

"You haven't answered my question."

"What question?"

"Does this change anything between us?

"Bonnie, I love you. Nothing can change that. I'm just scared this means you won't respect me any-"

His words were cut off as she threw her arms around him and began kissing him. The embrace and kisses lasted until Bonnie finally calmed down. "Oh yeah," Ron smiled as the kissing stopped, but he still held her in his arms, "you never did respect me, did you?"

"No, you goof," she giggled, "but I love you. I needed to hear you still love me."

Ron seemed nervous, "Can we, uh, ask him to come with us to California?"

"Duh! Of course. He's your son. But I don't think you're going to get him away from your mother for awhile."

"Uh… Maybe I'll come back to Middleton some weekends to-"

"Maybe _we'll_ come back to Middleton. He has other family besides you he needs to meet."

Ron closed his eyes and groaned, "Oh, God. What am I going to tell Aaron and Becky?"

Bonnie hugged him, "I don't know. Want to Google 'introducing your kids to half-siblings you never knew they had'?"

"Not funny."

She suddenly realized it wasn't. The kids would want to know more about Ronin's mother, and why Ron hadn't married her. "Sorry. I don't know what to say. The good news is; the kids love him."

The two walked downstairs, hand-in-hand to talk with their children. Ron hoped Becky was still too young think about the biology involved and that Aaron wouldn't ask the hard questions in front of his sister.

Sheki arrived at the hospital before the Stoppables left, but looked for her grandmother instead of interrupting them. She regretted hanging up on Rachel the day before - but the memory reminded her of the location of her missing phone. Anne sat at her desk, staring at a pile of papers. "Isn't Ronin great?" Sheki greeted her.

"He is certainly interesting," Ann Possible admitted.

"How is he? Can he leave the hospital? Can I take him home? Will-"

"Stop. One question at a time. He needs a couple more days of rest and lots of fluids, but it doesn't have to be at the hospital. Considering the lack of paperwork on him the administrators would appreciate getting him out of here as soon as possible. And what do you mean by take him home?"

"Well, his stuff is at our house. He talked about staying in Middleton for awhile."

"I know."

"Anyway, I was hoping Mom and Eemah will let him stay in the apartment over the garage. But then he yelled at me the other day."

"He said you were a distraction."

"Sensei stayed in there the whole time! Ron was there. You even did your examining thing. What do you mean, I'm a distraction?"

"I'm just repeating what he said. If you want to know what he meant you have to ask him."

Sheki thought for a moment, "I think I will."

Her grandmother smiled and nodded, "You go, Girl."

"Sheki!" Hana said with all the enthusiasm she could manage when the dark-haired girl entered the room.

Sheki gave her a quick hug, "How do you feel?"

"Alive. Weak. I feel like a girl!"

"What does that mean?"

"Well, it scares my dad. I'm going to get my first boyfriend! I'm going to-"

"Got any guy in particular in mind?"

"No… There were guys who asked me out but they liked the tough girl Toshi made me. I'm going shopping with my mom-"

"Shopping for a guy?"

"No, for clothes. I'm going to get something pink and frilly because I can."

Sheki glanced at Ronin, "You've created a monster."

"She will settle down," he promised. "This is new to her."

Hana grinned, "And first kiss. I want my first real kiss, not family peck on the cheek stuff. Maybe I'll ask Jason, Kasy says he's a great kisser."

"Will you tell her or should I?" Ronin asked.

"Tell me what?"

Sheki blushed, "That doesn't count."

"What doesn't count?"

"Before he left, Toshi kissed me."

Hana's eyes went wide, "Toshi kissed you?"

"He… You… He was really good at it."

Hana fell back in her bed and stared at the ceiling, "Did he do anything else to embarrass me before he left?"

"No, that was pretty much it. Hey, when you get out of the hospital I'll get Briana and Jessica over for a girl's night with you. We can paint our toenails and do all the silly stuff you missed back in middle school. But right now I'm gonna take Ronin off your hands."

"What?" he asked.

"You're checked out. Actually, not sure you were ever officially checked in. They've just been letting you rest. C'mon, I'm taking you home."

"But, Hana-"

"Hana's fine… Okay, she's weak as a kitten. But she can rest without you here."

"I think I should-"

"On your feet, now! We need to talk."

Silently he swung his legs over the side of the bed and looked for his sandals. Once he had them on he followed her out of the hospital and into the parking lot.

* * *

"Bring him straight back here," Rachel Stoppable warned Ron.

"Mom!" her son protested, "can I have a little privacy for my first talk with my… with him?" The word 'son' for someone other than Aaron still didn't come easily to his lips. "Maybe I can take him out to dinner or something before I bring him back."

"He likes Korean. There's a Korean place on George Street near the university. You can take him there."

"How do you know he likes Korean food?"

"I asked Hana this afternoon."

"How about I talk with him? Can I ask him what he wants, please?"

Ron sighed and headed for the hospital. He had always assumed his years as Kim's partner would be the weirdest of his life. _"Life just got stranger,"_ he told himself as he turned the key in the ignition. _"A lot stranger,"_ he groaned inwardly as he put the car in gear and headed for the hospital, _"I promised God I'd go to Shabbot services for a year without complaining."_

Seeing Hana grinning at him made it easier to live with the memory of his promise. He called his mother.

"Where are you taking Ronin?" were her first words.

"He's not here. Hana says Sheki got to him first."

"What?"

"He's probably at Kim's. I'm heading over in a minute. But there's news from the sick chick. She says she can come home tomorrow afternoon if she promises to take it easy and rest."

"Tell her I won't be strong enough to clean my room for six months," Hana whispered.

"And she promises to clean the whole house, top to bottom, starting next week to say thanks for the way you've been slaving over her."

Hana stuck her tongue out at her brother, who laughed and kissed her on the forehead before heading to Casa Possible.

"Where are Aaron and Becky?" Jane demanded when Ron arrived.

"They're still with my Mom and Dad. Are Sheki and Ronin here?"

"MOM!" Jane screamed, "Are Sheki and Ronin here?"

"No," Kim called from the kitchen.

"Sheki's cell phone's been going direct to voice mail," Shego called. "I've been trying to reach her."

"Well she's kidnapped my son," Ron called to them.

"You said Aaron was with your parents," Jane reminded him.

Kim stuck her head out the kitchen door, "What are you talking about? Get in here with Shego and me."

"Sure. Hey, can I tell Jane to go over and play with Aaron? I need to talk."

"Did you hear Ron?" Kim asked the young redhead.

Jane nodded, "But I haven't had supper!"

Ron took out his phone as he walked into the kitchen, "I'll call my Mom, right now, and tell her to feed you. I saw some ice cream sandwiches in the freezer - you'd better run."

"Where are you taking Ronin?" his mother asked again.

"He's AWOL with Sheki. I'm going to wait here. I sent Jane over to play with Aaron - feed her when she gets there. And call me if Sheki brings him there, okay?"

"I think possession is nine points of the law."

"Mom!"

"Fine. I'll call you. You call me when he gets there, I'm starting to worry."

"You always worry, remember? You're a Jewish mother."

"Oh… I hadn't thought of that. Do you know about Ronin? What's his religion?"

"I don't know. I'll let you grill him on that. I just want to talk with him tonight."

Ron hung up and sighed.

"Well, based on just your half of the conversation," Kim told him, "I have no idea in the world what's going on. What's this about a son and Ronin?"

"Ronin is my son."

Kim and Shego stared at him in disbelief. "You're kidding, right?" Kim finally asked.

"I wish I… No, I… I'm like totally lost here."

"Want me to arrange paternity testing?" Shego asked. "You should be certain."

"I'm certain enough. When Yori and I… She never told me."'

"And now you've got a bouncing hundred and seventy pound bundle of joy," Shego finished. "Hey, look at it this way. You got out of diapers, teething, the terrible twos, and puberty. Consider yourself damn lucky."

"That's not funny," Kim chided her.

"Laugh or cry, Princess, those are the choices. And looks like Ron wants to cry."

"I don't know what I want," Ron admitted.

"How about a drink?" Shego suggested. "That's the kind of news that calls for a double."

"Shego," Kim hissed, "getting drunk is not the answer."

"Didn't say getting drunk, but a tall stiff one might take the edge off the conversation."

"I don't want liquor on my breath when I talk with him. I want to seem like a parent."

"Turning over a new leaf?" Shego teased.

"Shego!"

"Don't stop her, KP. At least someone's getting a chuckle out of this. I don't know what to do."

* * *

"I thought you said you were taking me home," Ronin asked as they parked at a secluded spot overlooking Lake Middleton.

"I will. I wanted to… talk to you for a few minutes. Do you mind? Do you want me to take you home?"

"As if I know where home is," he said softly.

"Don't say that… Look, a couple days ago... What happened at the hospital? You yelled at me. I really got… I mean, I… What was going on? I didn't deserve that! I just wanted to ask about Hana."

He hesitated, wondering how much truth he should tell her, afraid of what she might think. Finally, he took a deep breath and began. "You are too much of a distraction to me."

"Grandma told me you said that. I annoy you?"

"Not at all. Exactly the opposite. To maintain my link with Hana required concentration. I can't focus when you're present. I begin thinking of you, your perfume, your voice... You are too much in my mind for-"

"You weren't mad at me?"

"I could never be angry with you."

She smiled, "Really?"

"Really."

"It hurt me when you yelled at me like that."

"Forgive me. I needed to think about Hana right then and not…"

"Needed to not think about what?"

He blushed, "You."

She leaned back in the car seat and smiled. "It's so nice to hear someone say that. Kasy's always the one guys want. She's always the pretty one. I'm the smart one. And-"

"But you are very pretty."

"And Kasy's smart. I'm just saying that's how people see us. She always had guys, and girls, asking her out. I… What are your plans?"

"I plan to stay in the US for a year to meet my family. Then I hope to go to medical school."

"Don't you, like, need regular college before medical school?"

"Here in the US, but not everywhere. There are other schools."

"You could get a Bachelors in the US and apply to medical schools here."

"Costs are cheaper in other countries too."

"The Stoppables would-"

"You shouldn't speak for others. They don't know me."

"They're going to love you."

"I hope so. Is your Eemah still putting pressure on you to go to law school?"

"Oh yeah, big time. I don't know what I want to do. Seems like everyone but me knows what he or she wants to do."

They talked about their plans and hopes and paid not attention to the time as the sun set. They moved closer together when a cool breeze came off the lake. She congratulated him when he told her how much better things were going with his family in Japan. A few minutes later Sheki laughed as he finished a story about a practical joke played on a new student at Yamanouchi and she impulsively turned and gave him a kiss.

The kiss was spontaneous and ended quickly. They were both slightly embarrassed by it, and slightly excited.

She blushed and moved her face back a few inches, "Sorry," she stammered. "I didn't…"

He was blushing also. "That's okay, I-"

She kissed him again before he could finish whatever he meant to say. It was longer this time, with a little promise and tentative passion. The kiss ended too soon for both of them. "I had to say thank you, for saving Hana," she explained breathlessly.

He managed to say, "You're welcome."

* * *

"Okay, where in the hell are they?" Ron demanded as he finished the fourth call from his mother since arriving at Kim's. "What is Sheki doing with my son?"

"Hey, don't put it like that," Shego retorted. "What is your son doing with her?"

"Sheki probably forgot her phone," Kim offered diplomatically. "They've known each other for years. She probably took him out to eat or something and they lost track of time. Maybe they don't realize how much everyone wants to know Ronin better."

"At least it's not Kasy," Shego grunted. "She'd probably be getting to know him better all by herself, wink, wink."

"Shego! Kim protested, "how can you say that about your own daughter?"

"You wanta argue with that?"

Kim changed the subject. "Sheki is the responsible one," she reminded Ron. "Everyone is fine. They're just talking somewhere."

"And keeping their clothes on," Shego added.

"I say we ground them both," Ron suggested. "Can I ground him? I expected a few more years before I had to face having a teenager."

Shego thought for a minute, "Interesting question… Legally I'm not sure what kind of responsibility you have. And he's old enough he doesn't have to listen to you if he doesn't want to."

"I don't care what's legal," Ron groaned, "I just want to do what's right."

Kim put a hand on his back and rubbed gently. "Of course you do. Shego is just teasing you."

"She's right. Sorry, Sport," Shego admitted. "I'm stressed and worried too. This isn't like Sheki. She always calls. I'm sure they're just talking somewhere and everything is fine."

* * *

Sheki and Ronin were both feeling fine. But for the last half hour the intervals between talking had grown longer, and the intervals of talking shorter.

As she listened to him talk about Hana's recovery Sheki took a deep breath and wondered if she had the nerve for the idea that went through her mind. "I don't know if thanks are enough for saving Hana," she smiled, "I think you need a reward," and kissed him again.

He was clearly startled when her fingers fumbled with his belt. He tried to pull away and she ended the kiss. "What are you doing?" he gasped.

"Something my mom once did for your dad… It's called a hand job."

"My father? Your mom? How do you know that?"

Sheki sighed and leaned back in the driver's seat. "Mom and Eemah demanded a really serious talk with Kasy a couple years ago. She said no. They said she didn't have a choice. She said she'd tell the truth if they told the truth about themselves. They called her bluff. Eemah said something about flashlight of truth, whatever that means, and they made me listen. I think I was supposed to get some lesson out of it too, but all I got was embarrassed."

"Oh."

"Sorry, I startled you… I just… Well, I mean, saving Hana, I… Never mind."

"Can I touch you?"

"No! I, look, I've never done this before. You can tell me no, or you can just lean back and relax. Trust me, I'm nervous enough for both of us."

* * *

Ron called his mother, "Did Sheki bring him over there and you're keeping him for yourself?"

"No, Dear, we haven't heard from them. Do you think they were in an accident? Sheki's always been so responsible. Maybe the car broke down?"

"I just want to know they're safe."

"So do I. Oh, your father will drive Jane home in fifteen minutes. Bedtime for Aaron and Becky."

"Thanks, Mom."

* * *

"Am I doing this right?" Sheki asked. "I told you I've never done this before. I'm not hurting you, am I?"

"I think you're wonderful," he murmured.

"Thanks," she giggled and kissed him on the cheek. "It's not like I could ask Kasy for instructions… Well, maybe I could have, but Kasy-"

"No Kasy," he moaned softly. "You're wonderful."

* * *

"Well, I'm having a vodka-and-tonic," Shego announced, "the stress is starting to get to me. Changed your mind, Ron?"

"Yeah, I think I need one. Don't make mine as strong as you make yours."

"Kim?"

"Drinking won't get them home sooner or stop them from having an accident."

"No, but it might relax me enough that I don't do serious physical damage. I'm more upset now than when she backed into my Porsche."

"I think I'll get myself a cranberry juice and seltzer."

* * *

"I'm sorry," Sheki apologized as she frantically ransacked the back seat of the car, "there's usually a box of tissues in the glove compartment. I don't know what happened."

"I'm not complaining… Napkin from a drive-thru? Anything?"

"I cleaned it out this afternoon before I went to the hospital. Kasy always has so much junk in the car… Nothing."

"Uh, maybe we ought to head back. Your mothers are probably worried."

"The time! We need to get home." Sheki quickly got behind the wheel, then hesitated. "Um, can I wipe my hands on your shirt? I don't want to touch the wheel like, uh, this."

"That's okay. It's definitely going in the laundry."

"I'll wash it tomorrow," she promised. "No way I'm going to let Mom or Eemah catch that in the laundry hamper."

* * *

The lights were on in the kitchen when they pulled in at Possible Manor.

Shego went to the window and looked out when she heard the noise in the driveway. "It's them," she told Ron and Kim.

"You said there's an apartment over the garage?" Ronin asked. "We could wash there."

"If I had a key on me. I wasn't thinking."

"Since they are in the kitchen, do you want me to go in the back door? I'll distract them while you can go in the front."

"Thanks for the offer. It's a little too dark to tell, but it might be safer if I faced them and you ran upstairs and changed.

"Are there other doors?"

"Sunroom, but I don't carry a key for that. Kasy used to have a couple windows she left unlocked to sneak in and out. I think Eemah nailed them shut."

Before they could come up with any alternative plans a shout came from the house, "All right, you two, get up here. And you'd better have a good story for not calling."

"Forgot my phone," Sheki yelled as they slowly walked to the house. "Lost track of time until nature called. How about you grill us after we answer the calls."

"Both of you at the same time? That's quite a coincidence."

They were getting close to the house, "Yeah, isn't it. Ronin needs it worse, you can hold me hostage 'til he gets back." Before opening the door she whispered to Ronin, "Stay behind me."

Kim, Shego, and Ron stood in a semi-circle around the door, waiting for the pair.

_"Probably a real bad time to ask if Ronin can stay in the apartment over the garage,"_ Sheki thought. Ronin let her serve as a shield from parental eyes.

"Why didn't you call?" Shego demanded.

"Misplaced my cell phone. I think I remember where I left it in my room."

"And you couldn't find a phone to borrow?" Kim scolded.

"We lost track of the time," Ronin said. "It was my fault. I asked so many questions."

"I was going to take you out for dinner," Ron interrupted, "have you eaten?"

"Yes." "No."

"Which is it?" Shego asked.

"I, uh, asked to take him out for dinner," Sheki explained as she carefully maneuvered herself between the three adults and the back stairs. "But then we got talking, right Ronin?"

He was gone. While he was not among the better students at Yamanouchi he recognized he had been granted an opening for a strategic retreat and taken it. Sheki breathed a sigh of relief.

_"Hope Kim didn't see that,"_ Shego thought, _"Sheki will be grounded forever."_

_"Hope Shego didn't see that,"_ Kim thought, _"Ronin needs to meet Ron, not get the third degree."_

Ron took out his cell phone to let his parents know the lost were found.

"There are leftovers in the fridge," Kim told Sheki. "Why don't you wash your hands and eat something?"

"Use soap." Shego suggested.

_"I am so busted."_

-The End-


End file.
